Herschel fenton



(No Model.)

H. PBNTON.

BANJO TAIL PIECE. No. 454,728. Patented June 23, 1891-.

umg C .//QMU vl@ A TTOHNE YS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERSOHEL FENTON, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR 'IO JOHN H. BUCKBEE, OF SAME PAOE.

BANJO TAIL-PIECE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,728, dated June 23, 1891,

Application filed February 3, 1891. Serial No. 380,021. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom t may concern: that has its edges ogee curved, said plate Be itvknown that I, HERSOHEL FENTON, of being suitably widened forwardly and aper- New York city, in the county and State of tured in semicireularform, the straight front New York, have invented a new and useful edge of this aperture d forming the inner 5 5 BanjoTail-Piece, of which the following is a edge of the cross-bar e of the tail-piece. The

full, clear, and exact description. cross-bar e, whereon t-he strings g are secured,

The object of this invention is to provide has a series of properly-spaced perforations a tail-piece for a banjo which will afford h formed in it, which holes are of a size that means to strain the strings in conjunction will allow the strings to be readily inserted, 6o

1o with the keys, holding the strings off of the and are cupped on their front edges. As

head-skin, and also furnishing means to conshown in Fig. 2, the erossbar e is of greater neet the strings to the cross-bar of the tailthickness than the plate e it is formed upon,

piece in a manner that will avoid chaiing of and is mainly cylindrical in cross-section, the the strings and thus increase their durability. perforations .7L having such a relative posi- 65 To these ends my invention consists in the tion that their lower surfaces will merge into construction and combination of parts, as is or be tangential to the curved periphery of hereinafter described and claimed. the cross-bars depending cylindrical portion Reference is to be had to the accompanying e', and thus avoid any angular corners that drawings, forming apart of this specification, would eut the strings which lie upon the 7o zo in which similar letters of reference indicate rear and .lower surface of the cross-bar, havcorresponding parts in all the views. ing their knotted ends g engaged with the Figure 1 is a plan view of a ban j o-hcad cupped front edges of the perforations 7L.

broken, with the improvement in place, en The plate c is bent at a right angle to progaging strings shown broken. Fig. L is a duce a depending limb at c', which limb has 75 longitudinal section of the banjo-head broken its lower corner that is adjacent to the hoop and the improvement in place on said head, O rounded, so as to permit a rocking movetaken on the line 2 in Fig.' l; and Fig. 3 is a ment of the tail-piece D upon the upper edge detached perspective view of the improved of the hoop, the rounded corner c2 rolling tail-piece. upon the outer face of the hoop when the 8o 3o It is of importance for the purityof tone in a tail-piece is rocked.

banjo that a contact of the tailpiece and iy the provision ofthe depending limb c strings of the instrument with the head-slin and the curvature of its lower inner corner be avoided, which, if properly effected, inc2 a proper degree of vibration is afforded creases the resonant power of the banjo. The when the lug i is drawn upon, the surface of i 3 5 device which is the subject of this invention contact between the limb and the hoop C accomplishes the desideratum mentioned in serving to steady the tail-piece and prevent an efficient manner, as will be explained. lat-eral swerving of the same, as its inner sur- The banjo-head is constructed in any wellface is of a shape that will adapt it to have a approved manner, consisting, essentially, of bearing its full width on the hoop.

4o an annular body A and head-skin B, that is On the exterior surface of the depending stretched upon the body by a hoop O, which limb of the tail-piece a lug` e' is formed, which is seated ,upon a border-ring ct. The latterproj eets in a plane parallel with the plate c named piece is secured on the margin of the having a proper length to admit the formahead-skin by wrapping and eementing the tion of a vertical hole in it, said hole (see 45 skin thereon, the hoop being held in place Fig. 3) being preferably made square in conand clamped upon the border-ring a by the tour to receive the square portion of a bolt usual clamps b. E, that engages the lug and then passes- The tail-piece D is made of metal, prefer through a knob m on the screw-boltmwhich ably cast into form and given any suitable is inserted through the body of the banjoroc 5o finish. Its form is clearly shown in Fig. 3, head and engages an exteiisioirpiece F of the and, as indicated, consists of a fiat plate c, neck of the instrument. (Shown broken.)

Upon the lower end of the bolt E a cap-nut 0 is placed, which by its adjustment will rock the tail-piece D a proper degree to elevate the inner end of the tail-piece and prevent the strings from resting upon the head-skin B, the adjustment of the tail-piece being altered, if necessary, when the hoop C is clamped and given a lower position on the body A to stretch the head-skin when thisis needed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A banjo tail-piecehavinga nearly cyling drical forward cross-bar provided with trans- 'verse cupped perforations that conform with 

